Each weekday morning, BDL serves up a handful of NBA-related stories to digest with your bacon. At least for now. We'll see how long this lasts.

Mary Schmitt Boyer, The Plain Dealer: "So much for that theory about the Cavaliers getting motivated by watching the Boston Celtics receive their championship rings and hoist another championship banner during pregame ceremonies tonight in TD Banknorth Garden. LeBron James revealed Monday the Cavs will sit this one out. They'll wait in the locker room until the hoopla is over. 'We don't need to be out there watching that; we need to get ready for the game,' James said before the team left for Boston. 'Congratulations to them. But we're not [like] the fans of Boston. We don't need to be out there clapping for them getting rings.' James brushed off the notion of using the ceremony for motivation. 'It's stupid,' he said of that idea."

Dave Krieger, Rocky Mountain News: "The question on the table was whether it is better for the Nuggets if Allen Iverson plays the point or the 2. 'I don't know what would be better, and I honestly don't care,' Iverson said. 'Whatever's best for the team. I'm willing to sacrifice whatever I have to sacrifice.' His partner on a Nuggets marquee better known for celebrity than championship contention was similarly ambivalent. 'It really doesn't matter,' Carmelo Anthony said. 'I think it depends on who we're going up against and how the game is being played.'"

Jerry Zgoda, Minneapolis Star Tribune: "The headband is back. And if portions of the preseason were telling, so might be Corey Brewer. Brewer wore two NCAA championships at Florida and sported a fabric headband while doing so. In his debut NBA season a year ago, he went without it because coach Randy Wittman's team rule prohibits rookies from wearing one. 'No particular reason, other than he was a rookie,' Wittman said when asked about the rule. 'He graduated to his headband this year.'"

Frank Isola, NY Daily News: "Josh Boone participated in his first full Nets practice Monday since being sidelined with a rapid heartbeat on Oct. 17. But Boone may not start at center tommorrow night when the Nets tip off the season in Washington against the Wizards. That distinction could go to rookie big man Brook Lopez. After practice Monday, Lawrence Frank said Boone has the 'best opportunity early' to start tomorrow night because of his experience, but still wasn't ready to give him the nod over Lopez. 'I'm not going to announce anything right now,' Frank said. '(Boone's) conditioning is a little better than expected. We'll see how he responds (today in practice).'"

Jonathan Feigen, Houston Chronicle: "For nearly a month and almost without interruption, Aaron Brooks had answered perhaps the most pressing questions of the Rockets’ preseason. Elevated to the backup point guard role by the off-season trade of Bobby Jackson to get Ron Artest, Brooks looked every bit the part, leading the Rockets in scoring in the preseason and improving with every game. Then late in Sunday’s practice, he took off down the lane and came away limping. And with Monday’s MRI exam results, the Rockets faced a new set of questions about a potentially crucial position. Brooks, 23, was ruled out for at least a week with a bruised right ankle and could miss as much as three weeks. Just when the Rockets had begun to feel comfortable with his increased role and to even consider it among the team’s strengths, they were as unsure about the position as when training camp began."

Sekou Smith, AJC: "The Hawks’ season opens Wednesday, but for Mario West, Othello Hunter and Thomas Gardner, there was cause for a quiet celebration Monday. The opening-day roster had to be turned into the NBA office, and their names were on it. Knowing he wouldn’t have to clean out his locker after a grueling month of training camp and preseason led to the first unfettered smile on West’s face since last season [...] 'I’m just excited and glad to have that [Hawks] name across my chest,' West said after practice Monday. 'It’s a wonderful feeling. And I’m just as happy now as I was last year. It’s like I’m reliving the whole process all over again. I have another opportunity to live my dream, and it’s a great feeling.'"

Jason Quick, The Oregonian: "Two days before the Trail Blazers' first practice, and one day before the team would greet reporters for its annual media day, a season of potential took its first significant step. It was somewhat of a secret start to the season, as coach Nate McMillan invited the cornerstones of the franchise — Brandon Roy, LaMarcus Aldridge and Greg Oden — to his West Linn house for dinner. 'The whole hype,' Roy said, 'was that Coach Nate was cooking.' Throughout the night, they talked finances. They talked football. But mostly, the subject of conversation was themselves: to one another, about one another, for one another. In Trail Blazers parlance, it was a meeting of the Super Heroes."

Chris Dempsey, Denver Post: "If Nuggets coach George Karl was skeptical about whether the Nuggets new defense-first philosophy would be embraced by the players, most of those concerns are gone with the season near. 'The intensity and changing of philosophy or prioritizing the game in a different way has not only been accepted, but enthusiastically accepted,' Karl said after Monday's practice. 'And hopefully it's the right decision. My whole thing is we've been too offensively oriented, and hopefully this year we'll be balanced.'"

Greg Couch, Gary Star-Tribune: "Derrick Rose finished his little talk with reporters after practice Monday at the Berto Center, and I stayed to give him a hard time about the questions this kid, still with pimples, had just heard. Not to put too much on you, Derrick, but the entirety of the Bulls' existence, the fans' focus, the success of the basketball world and the entire world is based on how you do. Is that any pressure? Rose had a little grin — but a serious look — and said this: 'That's what I want.'''

Sam Amick, Sac Bee: "Not all the purple eggs — or blocks, rather — are in the 2010 basket. There are no "Destination 2010" campaigns (that's over at Sacramento State) or illusions that LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh or even Joe Johnson are secretly plotting their path to California's capital in their free-agent summer. But there is in-house optimism because the financial future is bright. As the payroll currently stands, the most likely scenario in the summer of 2010 is that the Kings would have approximately $40 million in guaranteed salaries. The figure could be as low as $29 million if team options for Greene, Hawes, and Thompson are declined and if John Salmons opts out of the final year of his contract (worth $5.8 million). Considering this season's salary cap is $58.68 million, and that projections based on history would put it around $63 million for the 2010-11 campaign, the Kings could have anywhere from $23 million to $34 million with which to work."

Bob Finnan, News-Herald: "Pistons GM Joe Dumars will have quite a few decisions to make in the near future with Jason Maxiell, Richard Hamilton, Amir Johnson and Tayshaun Prince all possessing the power to hit the free agent market soon. Maxiell turned down a three-year, $15 million extension from the team this summer. Hamilton can opt out of his contract at the end of this season, and the Pistons may or may not want to give him an extension. Johnson will become an unrestricted free agent in the summer of 2010, as will Prince. Dumars will also have to decide whether to extend the contracts of Arron Afflalo and Rodney Stuckey."

Andrea Peyser, New York Post: "Former Knicks' executive Anucha Browne Sanders reacted Sunday to reports that the man she sued for sexual harassment accidentally overdosed on sleeping pills. 'I've said all along he should have time to reflect on how badly he's treated people over the years. Now that he's not working, he should think about the victims of Isiah. Maybe that's what's going on,' Sanders told The New York Post. Sanders said she feels sympathy only for Thomas' family. 'If he tried to commit suicide, I don't want to pounce on him,' she said, but 'I don't feel sorry for him. You make your bed, you lie in it.'"

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